Camshaft Hall Sensors
I had been driving around and noticed the car feeling a bit sluggish on initial acceleration and there was also a very slight backfire. Car seemed to have lost some crispness. No fault codes thrown with VCDS.
This seems to be a fairly common problem on the .:R32, so I thought I would post it up for information.
The bolt securing the Camshaft Hall Sensor on the side of the head seems to come a bit loose and the sensor can swivel around very slightly if you move it with your hand.
It seems to be enough to upset the performance but not enough to throw any codes - after all it is still working perfectly sending a signal as far as VCDS is concerned.
Some people have even reported that the bolt is completely missing!
Just need to nip it up again with an M5 Allen key and you are golden. The ones with a ball end makes it easier to get to around all the wiring and brackets.
You may need to unclip some of the harness to access the bolt properly on the sensor.
The specified tightening torque is 10 Nm.
Photos
This is a photo of a stripped down head to show the exact location of these sensors (photo used with kind permission of Cspence).
The one on the left is the Inlet Cam Hall Sensor -G40-
The one on the right is the Exhaust Cam Hall Sensor -G163-
This photo indicates location in the engine bay with all the extra harnesses and brackets in place (engine cover removed for clarity).
